


Through Eyes of Blue

by RyuichiSakuma



Category: Gravitation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 12:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3381077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuichiSakuma/pseuds/RyuichiSakuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I often wondered why Ryuichi, who seems to be full Japanese, had blue eyes.  This story came out of that curiosity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through Eyes of Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Japanese/explanations in this track:  
> *Daimyo – feudal lord.  
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimyo
> 
> *The koku was originally defined as quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year (one masu is enough rice to feed a person for one day). A koku of rice weighs about 150 kilograms (23.6 stone or 330 pounds).  
> Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koku
> 
> *Taikomochi – the original male geisha of Japan. The Japanese version of the jester, these men were once attendants to Daimyo (feudal lords) from the 1200s, originating from the 'Ji Sect of Pure Land Buddhism, which focused on dancing. These men both advised and entertained their lord and came to be known as doboshu ('comrades'), who were also tea ceremony connoisseurs and artists.  
> Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taikomochi
> 
> *Tatami mat – (originally meaning "folded and piled") are a traditional type of Japanese flooring. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core (though nowadays sometimes the core is composed of compressed wood chip boards or Styrofoam), with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in uniform sizes. Usually, on the long sides, they have edging (heri) of brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging.  
> Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami_mat

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My eyes are blue. I’m the only one in the family with blue eyes.

I was harassed about them when I was a kid, since people thought I wasn’t full Japanese. But I am, as one look at both of my parents would tell you. My grandmother told me my great great grandfather also had blue eyes, and his name was Ryuichi too. She usually would go no further. 

Finally one day, after a bad day at school, I came home and cursed the blue eyes that were the cause of my woes. She sat me down at the foot of the rocking chair she used whenever she visited. As she sipped her tea, she told me this story.

*~*~*~*~*

“Long ago, our ancestor Ryuichi, after whom you were named, was called by a messenger to the castle for an audience before his Daimyo. 

Now, our honorable ancestor was a simple rice farmer who loved to sing and had a beautiful voice. It was said that his voice was the most melodic in the Daimyo’s lands. Ryuichi sang to the rice seedlings while he cared for them in the paddies. His love for the plants came through his voice as well as his hands, and his rice was always the most prized and most delicious in all the land. He also taught his three young sons to sing to the rice while they worked so that the rice would grow fine and strong. 

Ryuichi was also wise, wiser than his 28 years. It was often said that he ‘must have Buddha guiding him,’ for his advice was more often than not, just right for the problem. 

Local legend said that his Daimyo was directly descended from a powerful dragon. No one in the village had ever seen the lord. They only saw his minions when they came around to collect koku. It was believed that the Daimyo ate people in order to retain his youth. The Daimyo’s fierce and terrifying guards were said to be made of stone, coming to life to collect koku or protect the young lord or do his bidding. 

Ryuichi had no idea why he had been called to the castle, so Mei, his pretty young wife dressed him in his finest kimono. His three sons cried as if he was going off to war, for it was also said that anyone that the lord called to speak with directly was never heard from again. Ryuichi showed them no fear, but he was shaking inside. He picked up his only daughter Fuyuko and laid his palm on her cheek like he had done since the day she was born.

“Fuyuko, I promise I will return, and you will know me by my voice. And I promise that I will sing at your wedding,” he told her. Four year old Fuyuko was the only one that didn’t cry, but instead looked at him with her great dark eyes and smiled. 

“I believe you Papa, you will sing at my wedding,” she said as the others cried. He smiled when she laid her small hand on the side of his face. Putting her down, he hugged his family goodbye. He told his eight year old son, “As my eldest son, you are the man of the house. Take good care of your mother and younger siblings until I return,” before he picked up his pack and turned to go. Fearing that he would be eaten, Mei and his sons put up such a crying and wailing that all his neighbors came to see what was the problem. 

When they heard that he had been called to the castle, they too wished him farewell. His best friend Makoto decided to walk with Ryuichi to the gates of the castle. During the journey, a bandit tried to rob them and group of monkeys tried to steal their food while they slept. They faced many more dangers along the way, yet the pair managed to defeat them all. The best friends continued walking, until they approached close to the gates of the castle. They hugged, then bowed low to one another while the two fearsome castle guards ignored the best friends as they bid each other farewell. 

“I will care for your family as if they were my very own until you return, my friend,” Makoto promised. 

“If I do not return, my soul will be forever grateful to you, Makoto-san,” Ryuichi replied, once again bowing low before he turned and walked through the castle gates. The guards had been expecting him, for they let him pass, but crossed their spears once Ryuichi had passed over the threshold, showing Makoto-san that he was not welcome. Makoto walked away, but right before he went out of sight of the castle, he turned to look back once more. As he did, he saw the guards uncross their spears and turn to stone! He made his way back to the village and told everyone what he had seen.

Ryuichi walked bravely through the yard and was met by the Daimyo’s personal secretary, who led him deep into the castle, to the lord’s very bedroom, which was dark and hidden by a wonderfully painted screen full of animals residing by a river. So beautiful was the artwork on the screen that Ryuichi was willing to swear that they were alive! And as he looked closer, he saw that indeed they were, for as when watched, a great crane took off in flight, picked up a frog and ate it before it turned and looked at him before flying off.

“Come closer, Sakuma Ryuichi-kun,” a quiet voice behind the screen beckoned. The young farmer steeled himself and walked behind the magic screen. Lying on a futon was a beautiful pale young man, who didn’t seem any older than himself. The pale young lord wore outer robes of brilliant emerald green, with inner robes of the finest jade green silk. 

“I hear that you have the most melodic voice in all of my lands. I wish to hear it before I die,” the young lord asked softly.

At that declaration, Ryuichi paled, but bowed low. “At your command,” he said before he took a deep breath and began to sing. He sang of the things he loved; his village, and of all the people he loved there. He sang of working in the rice fields and how happy the hard work and watching the plants grow made him feel. Most of all he sang of his family, of his pretty beloved wife and three strong sons and how he was teaching his sons to sing as they worked in the rice paddies. Finally he sang about how he promised his young daughter that he would sing at her wedding. The sun went from halfway down the sky until it touched the horizon while the young farmer sang. 

The Daimyo listened without interruption the entire time, a slight smile upon his pale face, which seemed to become more healthy and full as Ryuichi watched.

Finally, Ryuichi reached the end of his lengthy song. By then the Daimyo was sitting up with a smile on his face, his emerald green eyes shining as he rang a small silver bell. His secretary came into the room, and bowed deeply to the young lord. The Daimyo motioned the nervous man over and whispered to him. The secretary nodded and bowed again before scurrying off. Ryuichi watched and waited while the Daimyo smiled serenely at him. 

“Your wondrous voice has healed me, Sakuma-kun, for your joyous song of the things you love has also made me feel loved. For that, I feel you should be well compensated. I will take care of you and your family, and I will make sure that you will sing at your daughter’s wedding. But for now, I want you here.” 

Ryuichi paled and bowed low before he explained his situation. “My Lord, I am most grateful of your kind offer. But I fear that if I do not return to the paddies, my family will starve. My sons are too young to work the fields alone, and my wife must stay with my young daughter.” Ryuichi explained. 

“I will make sure that you and your family are well taken care of. I want you to stay here with me for a year and a day, Sakuma-san. And when you return home, I will give your family a bag of gold for your troubles, all this I promise,” the young lord told the farmer.

Trusting that the young lord would keep his word, Ryuichi stayed and sang to the Daimyo whenever he requested it, day or night. The young farmer and the young lord very quickly became close friends. As soon as the Daimyo felt well enough, he often accompanied Ryuichi’s singing on a golden flute carved with a pair of dragons on it that seemed to move about when it was played. The young farmer also learned to play a small drum, which he often used to accompany himself. 

Ryuichi sang local songs that he had learned as well as songs he made up. He told the lord stories of growing up on a farm, legends that his grandmother used to tell him when he was a boy, songs he learned from the servants, dances he knew and new ones that the servants taught him. He performed them all for the Daimyo, who loved watching the farmer, often clapping or playing his flute along with Ryuichi as he entertained. 

But, all too soon the year and a day was up and it was time for Ryuichi to leave.

In his room on the morning of his departure, Ryuichi shouldered his pack, which was full of gifts. The Daimyo walked into the now sparse room and handed the vocalist a finely-crafted drum made of the most superb wood, etched and painted with a green dragon sitting on a cloud.

“This is to show everyone that you are now officially my taikomochi as well as my friend, Ryuichi-san,” the Daimyo explained as the secretary also entered, carrying a bag of gold the size of both of his fists. 

“But…but I only entertained you, my lord. I do not need so much money,” Ryuichi stammered.

“You may not need it, but your family may. It would please me if you were to take it, Ryuichi-san,” the Daimyo pointed out. Bowing low, Ryuichi took the gold and placed it deep within his pack.

“I have a special gift just for you as well, my friend. You are to show this to no one, for it will surely be taken from you if you do,” the Daimyo warned. Ryuichi was handed a small jade green silk pouch with a long gold silk pull string. Inside of the pouch lay two of the most beautiful deep blue gemstones he had ever seen. A single white star seemed to be trapped within each stone.

The pale lord smiled kindly as he explained, “Those gems are star sapphires. I give them to you in the deepest gratitude for your friendship, which was given to me freely.” The young lord turned away and held up his favorite peacock fan before his face, hiding his smile. “And now you may go, Ryuichi-san for I wish to return to my true home.”

Ryuichi bowed low as he asked his lord, “This is not your true home, my lord?”

“No, my dear friend. This is my summer home, for which I came to in order to recover from my illness. Where I live you may not go to, for it is hidden from the eyes of men such as yourself. But know that this, the last gift I have handed you is one that is meant to be passed on from you to your children. You are to wait one year and a day before you may show them to the youngest member of your family. Do not sell them nor show them to anyone else before then. All will be made clear at that time.” 

“I understand my lord,” the farmer turned taikomochi replied. “I will do as you request.

The Daimyo smiled kindly at his friend once more before he quietly commanded, “And now you must sleep,” and touched Ryuichi gently on his tousled head with his favorite peacock fan. 

The farmer turned taikomochi fell to the floor of the room, fast asleep. 

When Ryuichi awoke, he found that lay on a finely crafted tatami mat under a tree near the same road he had walked on to go to the castle. His pack lay underneath his head and his drum sat by his side. He placed the pack on his back, put the drum on the mat and carefully rolled it up inside before placing it under his arm. He turned to look back at the castle one last time, but the castle and all within had vanished as if they never were. 

So Ryuichi began to walk the long road toward his home. Before he went out of view as to where the castle had been, a large shadow fell over where he had lain under the tree. 

He turned his gaze upward, toward the one cloud that floated near the sun in the deep blue sky. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then blinked again, for what his dark brown eyes had shown him was a green dragon, its scales shimmering as if made of brilliant green emeralds and its wings as if crafted of the finest jade green silk. It soared effortlessly on the winds as it flew towards the one cloud that floated near the sun, and as it did, it tilted itself once, and roared to the silver cloud as if it expected to be welcomed home before disappearing behind it.

Walking the long road home, he returned to his village late at night. As he walked inside of his house and looked around, he realized that things had changed, for his home seemed to be somehow different to his fire-blinded eyes. 

As he stood at the fire pit in the middle of the room, a middle-aged woman came from where he knew the bedroom to be. His eyes still unused to the brightness of the fire, he was unable to make out who the woman was. When the woman saw him, she let out a gasp and fainted. Dropping his mat containing the drum, he managed to catch the woman before she hit the floor. Surprised, he realized that the middle-aged woman he held in his arms was his once young wife.

Mei awoke from her faint and reached up to touch his face, the darkness in the room serving to accent the creases around her eyes. “Oh Ryuichi, I had almost given up hope when you hadn’t returned home after the first ten years. But why is it that you seemed to not have aged as I have?” She asked while he stared into her dark eyes, now lined with crow’s feet. 

“That I could not tell you, my sweet, but I am home now. And you, Mei, are still my wife, unless you have chosen someone else in my absence,” he replied, smiling gently down at her.

She returned the smile as she reached up to pull him close to her, her long black hair now mixed with grey. “I have waited twenty years for your return, and have been ever faithful to you, my love. But I fear I have grown old in your absence, and I am no longer the pretty young wife you married. My face is now lined and my long black hair now has grey streaks as I prepare our youngest daughter to be married tomorrow. But I am happy that you have kept your promise to return to sing at her wedding.”

Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips. “You will forever be young and beautiful to me, my dearest wife,” he murmured, gently picking Mei up and carrying her into their bedroom.

*~*~*~*~*  
The next day, the entire village came to their house for the wedding. Ryuichi, having left the house well before sunrise, returned wearing a cloak and hat that hid his face. And when the final prayers were said and the new couple turned to gaze into each other’s eyes, he began to sing and play his drum, low at first, then gradually louder. He sang of love and happiness, fertility and prosperity, all things bright and joyous to the newly wed couple. 

Fuyuko, recognizing her father’s voice even after so many years, turned and stared with her great dark eyes at the stranger, before she rushed over to him and threw her arms around his shoulders. Beckoning her new husband over, she pushed back Ryuichi’s hat to show his face to all present.

“I knew you would return to sing at my wedding just like you promised, Papa! But why is it that you seem to have not aged a day in the twenty years in which you have gone?” 

He laid his hand on her cheek like he used to when she was a small child and told her, “That I could not tell you, my daughter, but I am home now. And you, Fuyuko, are still my daughter even though you have grown from the small girl I once carried upon my shoulders into this beautiful young woman I see before me.” 

Makoto, sitting near the front of the crowd, stood up and joined Fuyuko. Ryuichi turned to smile at his best friend as the man, also much older, joined in the hug before stepping back and bowing low. Grinning, Ryuichi returned the bow. 

“I knew that you would return, my friend,” the older man said as he stood slowly upright. “I have cared for your family as if they were my own. And now, I too welcome you back. Its good to see that you are back with us.”

As Fuyuko’s new husband and then the rest of the village welcomed Ryuichi home, Mei stood back and smiled while he was welcomed like a hero returning from war.

*~*~*~*~*  
A year and a day after his departure from the lord’s castle, Ryuichi held his newly born grandson in his arms while he sat before the fire. Fuyuko, with Mei by her side, slept in their bedroom, exhausted from the birth. His daughter had named the hours old boy Ryuichi, after himself. As Ryuichi sang softly to the sleeping baby, he remembered the promise he had made to his friend, the Daimyo.

“Ryuichi, my beloved first grandson. I have a present for you on the day of your birth,” he told the sleeping child as he placed the baby in one arm and pulled out the green pouch he carried around his neck from underneath his clothing.

“Not even Mei, your grandmother has seen what I carry in this pouch, for I made a promise to a great and wonderful friend of mine. But to you, I now show the contents of this pouch I carry.”

Opening it, he held out his hand and shook the two sapphires into his palm. As he held the gems between his finger and thumb to shine them in the light of the fire, the star captured within each stone seemed to look at the sleeping child, who yawned and awoke. The boy’s eyes turned and focused upon those of his father. Ryuichi gasped in surprise; for the boy’s huge eyes seemed to mirror the color of the gemstones. 

And held within each one of the deep blue depths of little Ryuichi’s eyes was the light of a shining star.

*~*~*  
And ever since that day, my grandmother explained to me, once every few generations a son was born with sapphire-colored eyes. And within each eye was captured the light of a single star. 

And that child was destined to shine.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Owari  
(End)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Author's Note:**

> This is the original story that I had floating around in my head that caused me to start the TEoB drabble arc. 
> 
> (Another story from 2007. >:P )


End file.
